Wednesday, July 27, 2011

I was staying at a friends place and she pulled out the cutest mini loaf pan. I said something along the lines of "I have to have this pan" and she replied "it's yours - as long as you promise to use it". Best day ever!!! So to keep my promise I adapted this recipe from the Half Assed Kitchen to make these absolutely delicious zucchini cakes.

Mix the jam and soy sauce in a small bowl. Place the salmon on a baking sheet and brush on jam mixture. Top with thinly sliced onions and bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. When salmon is cooked place on a bed of garlic scapes (See recipe below) and top with peaches, radishes and a squeeze of lime.

Heat oil in a pan over medium high heat. Add garlic scapes and cook until tender. I like them with a lot of colour so i let them cook without moving them around to much. When they are ready add salt and pepper to taste.

Slice the fennel thinly using a mandoline if you have one. I chopped some of the tops to add to the salad but this isn't neccesary.

Zest grapefruits then peel and segment each one. Squeeze out the remaining juice from the left over pulp and reserve the liquid.

Chop cucumber and mix in a bowl with fennel and grapefruit. Chop mint finely and add to salad. Mix grapefruit juice with olive oil to make a dressing. Pour over salad and add salt and pepper to taste. Finally garnish with grapefruit zest and enjoy.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

These cookies are really yummy. I like to use super dark chocolate for some bitterness. I brought these to a work event and they were devoured. The recipe was adapted from Sarah Kramer's Vegan a Go-Go. Make a double batch!

In a food processor or large bowl, blend or mix together the egg replacer, margarine, sugar, and vanilla until smooth and set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, coconut and chocolate chips. Add the margarine mixture and stir until well incorporated. Roll dough into balls, lay on cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Let cookies cool 5 minutes before removing from sheet.

Mix oil, herbs, lemon and salt in the blender until all herbs are broken down. Place fish into an oven safe dish and pour herb oil over fillets. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

P's 13 year old cousin came to visit us for the weekend which was awesome. We had a great time playing games, going to the amusement park and of course eating ice cream sandwiches. My last batch of ice cream sandwiches went over pretty well so I decided to do it again.

Cookies waiting for ice cream

First make the cookies. I added an extra 1/4 of flour and rolled them out and cut out circles with a cookie cutter for more even shapes.

In a large bowl, cream the margarine and sugar together until smooth. Add the vanilla, and the cornstarch/soymilk mixture, and beat until well-mixed.

In a smaller bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and tapioca/corn starch. Stir this into the wet ingredients and combine well.

Begin rolling the cookie dough into balls of about 3 tbsp each and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Using the bottom of a glass, press down on each ball until they are about an inch thick. (Or do it like me and roll your dough out and cut with cookie cutters) Bake for 12 - 14 minutes, and no more. The cookies should still seem very soft when you remove them from the oven. Let cool on the pans for about 10 minutes, and then transfer to a wire baking rack and let cool completely.

To Assemble

This time I let the ice cream soften and spread it into an even layer about an inch think in a pie plate. Then I put it back into the freezer to set while I made the cookies.

Once the cookies are cool take your ice cream out of the freezer and using the same size cookie cutter, cut circles out of the ice cream. Lift them out using a small spatula and place the ice cream circle between two cookies. Press down slightly and put into an air tight container in the freezer. Continue until all cookies and ice cream are used.

I found this method to be less messy than just spooning the ice cream between two cookies.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

This is like kind of like eating yummy chocolate pudding but more like eating cake batter. Seriously so good. And I know you won't be freaked out about the chocolate and avocado combo because it is everywhere right now!